iRobot - Roomba 694

If it's just one room, get one of the old random bounce around Roombas with the bristle roller. 500 or 600 series. They're great at picking up litter and combing embedded pet hair out of carpet. I have a 692 I keep just for that. They're also super cheap because everyone wants the self-emptying models now. I see the older ones pretty often at thrift stores and Facebook Marketplace for under $30.

I have three shorthair cats and live in an apartment that is mostly medium pile carpet. In my experience vacuums that have rollers with combination rubber and bristles do better at combing pet hair out of carpet fibers than ones with all rubber rollers. A lot of reviewers do pet hair tests by scattering small clumps or individual strands of hair on top of carpet and that's not the whole story in real life. The hairs work their way down into the carpet and it takes aggressive agitation and strong suction to get them out. If carpet performance is paramount, get the Dyson Visnav or if you don't mind used, the Roomba S9+. Older Roombas that bounce around randomly and have the dual rollers with a separate rubber and bristle roller are also great at carpet combing. I keep a 690 around just for that reason even though I also have had newer vac and mop combo robots.

Such a shame. My old 690 is STILL kicking and on garage duty. They just don’t die. And if they do, their older designs were modular and trivial to repair. The good old days… 

I’ll match your golden and raise you a Berner. Our 690 is still going strong and runs daily to keep up with her.

Loved my roomba for a year until I realized it was slowly destroying all of my previous rugs at their corners and edges 😭

First bought iRobot 770 in 2015, worked great but died in 2020. Replaced it with roomba 692 hoping for an upgraded experience…so much disappointment; stuck constantly, poor performance, loud , etc. now it is just decorative. Not sure I’ll ever get another robot vacuum.

I love mine so far, got it slightly cheaper on black Friday. Maps really well, follows no go zones, mops good as well. Empties, dries mops without fail. No worries so far, no complaints. Had a low end roomba 690 before, this is far better, but it does have more tech, so it can't compare. Don't have experience with any other models.

Agree, my 35a is really really good. Does a great job, i have not experienced any mapping errors, or confusion, it mops where I want it vacuums where I want, minds no go zones. It's predictable, efficient, and dependable. I had a roomba 690 without the brains, and it was OK, but this is a new level. Nothing wrong withe the roomba, it was an entry level bot with no mapping. Cant agree more. Yes it's only 3 months for me, but damn it's good, at this point, I would get another if it shit the bed and out of warranty. Yes, some folks have bad bots, but not me. Fingers crossed. 1 floor house, 1 small non shedding dog.

I’m not disagreeing with your experience, but I’ve been on my current Roomba for like 5 years with no issues.

Strange, I have a J7+, i5+, 985, 980, 770, 694 and Discovery that all perform correctly and other then standard maintenance and replacing consumable parts have been running without issue since their initial launch year purchase. I’m about to try out my new 505 combo this week.

I have a roomba and love it. I’m always surprised when I empty the bin. It picks up so much dust!

I have the iRobot kind that has the base it dumps into until the base fills up! That’s the way to go I think, otherwise you have to clean out the robot every 15 minutes when it gets full. It’s very obvious in our house when the roomba is out of commission; it needed one of the brushes replaced and our house was covered after a few days of not using it (golden retriever). Main downside is it’s not that great at any kind of carpet or rug, I still have to go in and carpet brush the rug every so often to get the hair out.